Dear Reader,

We all have plans for our lives, formed as we grow up. I thought I was going to live in a house with a white picket fence. (Didn’t happen, although I do have a fence, and I do have a house.) I thought I’d marry a great guy (did happen), a brilliant absent-minded professor type (he is that) who also could make me laugh like no one else. (Gotta admit, he can be hilarious.) I also figured I’d be a mom and have a career, and that all took place, too.

But what ensues, I wondered, when the plans you’ve made take detours that aren’t the kind that are easily recovered from?

Mac Wheeler grew up wanting a high-powered career, and a wife and family, and he had all that—until the day an unexpected tragedy occurred, and he found himself a single dad with a constantly traveling lifestyle that was not what his only child needed.

Erin Monroe loved making boots, and she loved being married to a Texas charmer, until the day tragedy struck her life, and she found herself the family matriarch at age 23, raising her brothers and sisters, as well as eventually her own brood of three. Then tragedy struck again and sent her into another tailspin—one that left her functioning, but emotionally numb, just going through the motions of life. The day Erin and Mac come face to face, neither believe they will ever love again. But as they say, life has a way of happening when you are busy making other plans…. I hope you enjoy this last book of THE LEGENDS OF LARAMIE COUNTY. You can read an excerpt of The Texas Rancher's Family here.  And I hope you will visit my Facebook and Twitter pages. Cheers, Cathy Gillen Thacker

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